David Hellman admits to plot with Lakewood connections to kidnap Orthodox Jewish husbands to force divorces

6:50 PM,
Mar. 11, 2014

Rabbi Mendel Epstein, seen in the documentary 'Women Unchained,' is one of 10 men accused of plotting to kidnap and torture Orthodox Jewish husbands to force them to grant religious divorces. He lives in Brooklyn and has a house in Lakewood.

Written by

Margaret F. Bonafide
| @mfbonafide

The first guilty plea has been filed in a case involving 10 men, including two with Lakewood connections, accused of being involved in a plot to kidnap and torture Orthodox Jewish husbands in order to force them to grant their wives religious divorces.

David Hellman, 31, a personal trainer, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson to an information charging him with traveling in interstate commerce to commit extortion. His bail conditions include a $500,000 bond and GPS monitoring.

Hellman was part of a group that on Oct. 9, along with Jay Goldstein, 59, Moshe Goldstein, ...